Virginia-Highland Safety Team Report: November 1, 2012
By: John Wolfinger
Roy Latimore Found Guilty!!
Thanks to David Berl for taking the time to spend several days sitting on the hard benches of Fulton County courthouse courtroom 4-B to watch as the trial of Roy Latimore took place. Latimore is the one who was plaguing this part of the city a year ago with a series of armed pedestrian robberies. Thanx also to Paul Arena-Camarillo, our Zone 6 Community Prosecutor, for his meticulous research into these incidents, so he could present a good case to the jury.
The City Crime Rate is Down
Amazingly enough, our crime rate in the city still continues to abate. The story at: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/crimes-still-falling-in-metro-atlanta-us/nSr4j/ Another way to check our VaHi crime rate is to simply go to vahi.org and read the Safety Team Reports in the safety section from 2 or 3 years ago. Thanx to Brian Gross for making these reports easily available for comparison.
The following reports have been gleaned from the APD Zone 6 (http://www.atlantapd.org/Zone6.aspx) crime stats for the 2012 weeks of 39 and 40 (9/23-10/6) with emphasis on our VaHi Beat 601, but with news from around the Zone as it applies to us. Again, I state these reports are not meant to scare anyone, but to make you aware of what happens around us everyday, and to raise your level of alertness and awareness.
Aggravated Assault – No reported incidents in Beat 601
Auto Theft – Vehicles were stolen from Virginia Avenue, North Highland Avenue (this vehicle found abandoned in SW Atlanta) and a botched attempt on North Highland Avenue resulting in the ignition assembly being removed.
Auto Theft Recovery – No such finds reported here in Beat 601
Commercial Burglary – No reported incidents in Beat 601.
Nearby on Elizabeth Street in Inman Park, the King of Pops office was entered with the cash box and safe taken – this is a cash business and a substantial amount of cash was lost.
Residential Burglary – An Elmwood Drive residence was entered with no signs of forced entry.
Commercial Robbery – No reported incidents in Beat 601
Residential Robbery – No reported incidents in Beat 601
Larceny From Vehicle – Vehicles were entered on PDL Avenue, Monroe Drive, and on Park Drive, a landscaper’s pickup truck had equipment stolen from the open truck bed. Please warn your lawn guys of the dangers of not having all of their equipment not locked down in the truck or trailer.
Larceny Other – A bicycle and lawnmower chained together were both taken from a St. Charles Avenue backyard. Locked bicycles were taken from North Highland and Virginia Avenues in separate incidents. I know that it is a pain – but consider taking the seat or a wheel off the bike when it has to be left and locked in a public space. Then when not in use at home – hide the bike and just don’t assume that a front porch or apartment balcony is a safe parking space.
Elsewhere in the Zone – yet another iPhone was snatched from a sidewalk restaurant table, this time at Pure Tacqueria on Elizabeth Street in Inman Park. These thefts have decreased lately – but don’t assume that you can now leave your electronics laying on a table and not risk losing them. A whole ATM machine was taken from Angier Avenue at 5 a.m. in the Old 4th Ward. And, on Ralph McGill Boulevard at 2:20 p.m. a buyer was waiting on a vehicle seller to arrive when she was approached by 2 males who snatched her purse with $4500 in cash within, and fled on foot. Now – the victim still does not have a car or cash to buy another one probably.
Pedestrian Robbery – On 9/25 at 6:50 a.m. a Drewry Street morning walker was approached by 3 males (one with a handgun) who demanded his house keys – the victim threw the keys over their heads and into the grass with the perps grabbing the keys and fleeing. No injuries reported.
The previously reported armed robbery of 9/23 on PDL Terrace where the victim lost her cell phone – she has reported to me that the perps in this incident were the same ones arrested for Midtown incidents per her Zone 6 investigator. http://midtown.patch.com/articles/phone-tracking-device-aids-in-arrests-of-midtown-armed-robbery-suspects
On 10/5 at 12:50 a.m. on North Highland Avenue near the YWCA, the victim advised that she and her roommate were walking home when she was grabbed from behind by 2 females who physically assaulted her and took her purse with the contents. No serious injuries reported.
Residential Robbery News from Morningside – There were two messages on 10/30 on the vhmpa message board about Morningside incidents.
The first message stated – ” Yesterday (10/29) at 10:18 a.m., our home in Johnson Estates was broken into. We were not home. Our surveillance cameras showed that one man approached the house on foot from the sidewalk. He knocked on the front door several times the proceeded to look in all of the front windows. He walked back down the front steps and moments later a car backed into the driveway. Three men got out ( a fourth stayed in the car) and they went to the back of the house. They were all wearing green hoodie sweatshirts and green sweat pants – we assume to try to look like a landscaping crew. They kicked in the back door (despite signs stating the house was under surveillance). They went through the house looking for small items they could grab and sell. They got away with lap tops, an IPad, a tv, credit cards and all my jewelry.
The police were able to locate the laptop with an app that is on my iPhone and use the video surveillance to apprehend the men.”
The other message stated – “Someone attempted to enter our house on Cumberland Road at 4 am this morning through a basement door. Alarm went off and police were called.” Evidently these guys escaped before the police arrived.
Please stay alert, enjoy this wonderful fall weather and remember “See Something – Say Something” – meaning that if you see something where your gut feeling tells you something is wrong – call 911 immediately with a report! Don’t just assume someone else will call the police.